Posts Tagged ‘Emerging Leaders’

Chloe Baury is a Hilton Prize Coalition Fellow based in Bangkok, Thailand with ECPAT International, where she conducts research and analyzes information on national laws and legal procedures related to the sexual exploitation of children in Cambodia and Mauritania. Chloe graduated with a Master’s degree in International Law from Assas University (Paris) and a Master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Jean Moulin University (Lyon) in 2015. She also studied European Human Rights Law at Oxford University and has done volunteer work in Cambodia and for Cameroon. In this post, Chloe reflects on how she was able to put her education and experience into practice working for the protection of children’s rights.

Joining the Fight against Child Sexual Exploitation by Chloe Baury

After graduating from university, it took me time to find out what I wanted to dedicate my life to. I had spent a number of years studying law but could not picture myself working in a law firm; I wanted to make a real difference and work for a non-profit organization. So I decided to pursue a Master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations, and during this time I quickly developed a strong interest in children’s rights. Following graduation, I left for Cambodia to work in the field of access to education. When I returned to France, I wanted to apply my newly acquired skills and knowledge to a research role in an NGO focusing on children’s rights. As a Hilton Prize Coalition Fellow, I soon joined the international secretariat of ECPAT in Bangkok in June 2017. ECPAT is an international NGO network dedicated to the fight against sexual exploitation of children.

When I arrived, I quickly realized that my knowledge of the subject was limited. In my mind, the sexual exploitation of children was an issue that mostly happened in developing countries and was related to tourism or trafficking. However, what I learned at ECPAT was that this phenomenon happens everywhere, and can take many forms: sex tourism, pornography, trafficking, child marriage, prostitution. Children—girls and boys—are at risk in low, middle or high-income countries. No child is immune, and no country is untouched.

Since I had lived in Cambodia, my first task was to write a report on child sexual exploitation there. I had to collect information on facts, the legal framework in Cambodia, preventive measures, international and regional cooperation mechanisms, child-sensitive justice and child participation measures. The amount of reports and articles on the matter was impressive, even though accurate data is difficult to obtain due to the secretive and clandestine nature of this crime. While writing the first draft, I thought back to all the bars and karaoke places I had seen in Cambodia where ‘child prostitution’ can potentially take place, and I realized that I might have crossed many children who were being sexually exploited whilst walking around the riverside neighbourhood of Phnom Penh or in the streets of Sihanoukville.

I then wrote a report on Mauritania and faced the opposite problem: a complete lack of information on sexual exploitation. Sexuality was a strongly taboo subject, and many customs were strongly entrenched due to religious laws and beliefs; so even when such customs were detrimental to young women, the crime was pushed underground. However, I soon realized that there were also common challenges that were most likely shared with many other countries: a lack of law enforcement, and cultural barriers that would instill a fear in victims to report such crimes. Law enforcement officials are often corrupt, and victims often are ashamed or fear social exclusion. Even worse, victims of trafficking themselves are sometimes punished for engaging in prostitution, even though they were coerced to do so. Young girls are often treated as criminals, by way of local beliefs and traditions, because they are perceived as having had extramarital sexual relationships.

Whilst writing these reports, I felt frustration, anger and a strong urge to join the fight against child sexual exploitation. The reports illustrate how vital it is to change states of mind, to raise awareness among communities, and to work with governments as well as religious leaders. Preventive measures are as important as any protective measures.

My family and friends often ask me if it is not too difficult, emotionally speaking, to read about cases of abuse and exploitation every day, all day long. I answer that I can handle it, but never get used to it. My colleagues and I are often gasping discreetly when we read testimonies or data reports. It is also difficult not to think about it outside of work: every now and then, when I cross middle-aged foreigners with a local girl or boy, I cannot help but think: “Is this girl/boy underage? Is this a case of child sexual exploitation? Should I do something?” I am now more aware of the extent of this crime, and I hope the reports will contribute to raising awareness and creating solutions to fight it.

These past four months of my fellowship have been both professionally and personally rewarding. The fellowship made it possible for me to put my education and experience into practice. The Coalition provided me with online training courses to further improve my knowledge on the protection of children’s rights. I have learned a lot and I cannot thank enough my supervisors and colleagues at ECPAT for their teaching and guidance. The experience has reassured me that working for the protection of children is the professional path on which I wish to continue.

Fighting Torture with Data: The Challenges and Consequences of International Collaboration
by Harry Shepherd

The IRCT’s Data in the Fight against Impunity (DIF) project involved 33 torture rehabilitation centres from 28 different countries working across many time zones. Arriving partway into this project and being tasked with assisting the design and delivery of a database technology innovation that captures clinical data on victims of torture was daunting. It soon became clear, however, that the work to leverage patients’ data more systematically so that it could be used to fight against impunity for these victims of torture, would form a strong motivating force.

IRCT member centers designed the database themselves under the auspices of the DFI project, which captures systematic data on torture cases

The methodology of the DFI project was one of continual collaboration across the Secretariat team and between the members. This was critical in yielding the IRCT member centres’ shared expertise in order to design the clinical database. The database systematically records data about the victims of torture: their characteristics; how they were tortured; the context in which they were tortured; the presenting symptoms; and recommended rehabilitation treatments.

Of course the heterogeneity of the centres regarding size, location, breadth of rehabilitation services provided, types of victims treated, and respective resource limitations meant that achieving a consensus on how this should be designed was demanding. However, it is this same diversity across the IRCT’s global membership that makes the IRCT unique. The centres remained determined to leverage their breadth of insights to strengthen the overall impact of DFI.

Regional workshops, video conferencing, the IRCT membership site, and weekly project newsletters were among the devices used to yield the – internationally located- voices of the centres. Both operational and more academic challenges were overcome through these means. Everything, from how the informed consent form ought to be uploaded to the database, to how terms such as “secondary victims (of torture)” should be understood, were discussed. This consensus enabled the team in Copenhagen to manage an external IT consultant to create a database technology that captures the various data fields needed. And then, before the database could be implemented at the member centres, it required translation into the five languages used by the corresponding members. A number of upgrades were completed to evolve the database into a slick, useful, and secure tool based on centres’ feedback.

Staff from IRCT centers based in Sub-Saharan Africa discuss the database at a regional workshop held in Nairobi

I feel privileged to have helped coordinate this. Now that the project is over, at least under its current project cycle, I have learnt that close communication with centres and the development of a strong sense of community among them is the key to a successful project like DFI. This can of course be a significant challenge when working across countries, let alone continents; however, the use of technology platforms, underpinned by a strong culture of open dialogue, can enhance a project’s success.

As with all projects of this scale, trial and error allows the organisation to understand what works well and what does not. Compromises were, of course, made at times as local needs differ, project deadlines continually loom, and resources remain finite. Overall I feel extremely proud to be a part of a strategy that has enabled 33 centres to agree the contents, scope and design of a clinical database that is now being used to improve centres’ operational efficiency and human rights outputs. Thanks to this project, IRCT’s mission to ensure more patients can be seen, to support advocacy initiatives, and to contribute to the global fight against torture and the rehabilitation of victims is being realised.

I would like to say a massive thank you for the Hilton Prize Coalition for awarding me the Fellowship and allowing me to take up this opportunity at the IRCT.

We were thrilled to receive this letter from 2017 Fellow Ana Rabogliatti that offers a glimpse of the work she is supporting through her placement with member organization Operation Smile, an international medical charity that has provided hundreds of thousands of free surgeries for children and young adults in developing countries who are born with cleft lip, cleft palate or other facial deformities. The Hilton Prize Coalition Fellows Program seeks to develop and nurture emerging humanitarian leaders by providing opportunities for them to work with these best-in-class organizations. Thank you, Ana!

Dear Hilton Prize Coalition,

I am writing to inform you of my past month as a Hilton Prize Coalition Fellow and to express my appreciation for the opportunity that has been granted to me. Within such a short period of time I have already gained a much greater appreciation of the humanitarian work in which both the Hilton Prize Coalition and Operation Smile are immersed.

I have always been fascinated by the medical field and the belief that there are issues that need to be addressed on a global scale. This is a core belief of Operation Smile and I am so proud that I have the chance to share my compassion and values with them. I owe it to the Hilton Prize Coalition for making this all possible. This Fellowship has allowed me to work firsthand to combat health obstacles faced in many countries, known as the barriers to care, and the difficulties faced when there is a lack of access to safe and timely surgery. Although I am thousands of miles away, by experiencing the procedures, organization, and undertakings an NGO as large as Operation Smile [operates across the world] on a daily basis, I have been able to work on the front lines with some of these issues and broaden my competence in the logistics of engaging in both the business industry and humanitarian field.

In this last month, I have worked closely with [co-founder] Kathy Magee and the Office of the Co-Founders, collaborating in several projects, which include coordination regarding IFS research (International Family Study) for identifying the genetic and physical determinants leading to cleft lip and palate, the Birdsong Peanut RUTF Program that provides malnourished individuals with a Ready To Use Therapeutic Food that enhances nourishment in order to achieve the optimal weight for safe surgery, and involvement in the logistics and development of Operation Smile’s International Student Leadership Conference in Rome, Italy.

I am also helping to organize Operation Smile’s 35th Anniversary gala in November. Operation Smile has taken this anniversary not only to celebrate the progress achieved in the past but to move forward in the future, with the goal of eradicating the backlog of cleft. To be part of this ambition is an honor, and I cannot express my gratitude enough for the opportunity to be so involved in such influential affairs. The Hilton Prize Coalition’s consideration and enthusiasm for the humanitarian mission is helping set a new standard for the future of Operation Smile and for philanthropic aid entirely, and I cannot wait to see the subsequent progress of my involvement, the Coalition’s relationship, and global development with Operation Smile.

Giovany Delgado recently completed a Hilton Prize Coalition Fellowship with Casa Alianza Nicaragua (Spanish for Covenant House). Giovany holds an MS in Latin American Development from King’s College London. He completed his BA degree in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Miami and received a Diploma in International Relations from a European Perspective from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain, where he was a Benjamin Gilman Scholar, an initiative spearheaded by the U.S. State Department.

In this post, Giovany reflects on his experience working with at-risk adolescent youth in his native Nicaragua and its effect on his career goals. (All photos appear courtesy of the author.)

Reconnecting to My City through Grassroots DevelopmentBy Giovany Delgado

Ever since I came back to Nicaragua after my studies abroad, I’ve been reconnecting with the bustling city of Managua, Central America’s 2nd largest capital city. I call this city home. Yet, I hadn’t lived here for over a decade when I began my fellowship with Casa Alianza Nicaragua.

Youth participating in the annual Peace Festival, an activity developed to promote peace, unity, respect and solidarity among adolescents, their families and local communities.

At a midpoint in my career, I had dedicated my goals to strengthening civil society organizations and implementing development projects. The fellowship I was awarded by the Hilton Prize Coalition allowed me the opportunity to connect directly with one of its member organizations in my native country. For eight months, I worked with Casa Alianza, an organization with over 19 years of experience helping at-risk youth facing homelessness, drug addictions and multiple forms of violence, including human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

My fellowship made it possible for me to put my education and experience into practice, working to solve the complex in-country problems NGOs face in terms of economic sustainability, program development, evaluation and implementation. Casa Alianza is one of the few civil society organizations in Nicaragua with a unique and holistic approach to supporting at-risk youth in terms of protection and care. Its programs include social work support, health and medical care, family reintegration services, psychological support, legal services, a rehabilitation from substance abuse program and recreational, cultural and sporting activities. Throughout its 19 years, Casa Alianza has managed to provide recovery services to over 50,000 at-risk youth.

At Casa Alianza Nicaragua, adolescents have an opportunity to participate in alternative therapies as part of their recovery process. Yoga, floral therapy and Reiki are among the options available to them.

While working at Casa Alianza, I had the opportunity to go out on community site visits with the Street Outreach Program, and was able to witness the extensive network of services available to youth residing in either of Casa Alianza’s two residential centers. I worked to improve this network of services, re-organizing the services and implementing a strategy for their monitoring and evaluation. This strategy helped track and record the quality and number of services provided by the program while finding areas that needed further improvement and innovation. Additionally, I developed a methodological framework to enhance data collection for the family reintegration program, a community research tool responsible for investigating the socio-economic dynamics of each adolescent and his/ her family within the program.

During my fellowship I also assisted in elaborating a fundraising strategy focusing on international cooperation agencies, private sector companies and multilateral organizations. I used my multimedia communication skills to develop and market the Casa Alianza Nicaragua brand both nationally and internationally, boosting the overall online presence of the organization by 80%.

Lunchtime – Listening to the adolescents’ stories regarding their hopes and dreams brought meaning to the operational and administrative work I was performing.

These past eight months of my fellowship have been professionally and personally rewarding, as this work has allowed me to reconnect with Nicaragua and contribute to development efforts here. I have witnessed, through a grassroots lens, the work implemented and complexities faced by civil society organizations such as Casa Alianza. I have participated in developing short and long-term programmatic solutions. Moreover, seeing my work contribute to positive results in the recovery process of the adolescents whom I encountered was truly a touching and unforgettable experience. Thanks to the Hilton Prize Coalition Fellowship, I have reassured myself that this is the professional path on which I wish to continue.

Chytanya Kompala is currently completing a Hilton Prize Coalition Fellowship with PATH, a global health and innovation NGO based in Seattle, WA. Chytanya holds a Master of Science in Public Health degree in Nutrition from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In this blog post, Chytanya writes about her experience working with PATH’s Nutrition Innovation team to explore the effects of tobacco use during pregnancy on childhood stunting. She is also currently drafting a policy brief to highlight interventions that could help to reduce chronic undernutrition.

Stepping Out of the Silo: Advocating for Interdisciplinary Approaches to UndernutritionBy Chytanya Kompala

Global nutrition is my passion. In graduate school, I was trained to think about nutrition problems in the developing world from a certain perspective. My training came from nutritionists and did not emphasize collaboration with sectors outside of nutrition. My peers have been nutritionists. All of my previous work experiences have been completely focused on nutrition. As a global health nutritionist and researcher, I was eager to work with the Nutrition Innovation team at PATH and gain an insider’s perspective into one of the most reputable global health NGOs in the world. When I started my fellowship in February 2017, I was expecting something similar to my previous nutrition-centric experiences. I was anticipating joining a team that worked similarly to other organizations in this field. I was expecting to rely on my existing knowledge of nutrition. Instead, I had an entirely different experience. I found myself learning so much about new topics from a team with diverse backgrounds and next-generation ideas.

The issue of chronic undernutrition (technically known as stunting) has been at the center of my fellowship research. Chronic undernutrition among children under age five is one of the largest burdens of malnutrition and is an unavoidable topic in the developing world.

Early this spring, I attended a presentation at PATH’s headquarters by Roger Thurow, a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the author of The First 1,000 Days. “Stunted children have a life sentence to under-performance and under-achievement,” he said. As Thurow described, stunting during childhood impacts a child for the rest of his or her life. Long-term consequences of stunting include reduced educational attainment, impaired cognitive function and development, poor economic productivity, and even an increased likelihood of having stunted children. Stunting is an intergenerational condition that hinders the growth and development of individuals, families, communities, and even countries.

The Lancet2013 Series on Maternal and Child Nutrition was a seminal set of papers that acted to coalesce the nutrition and development communities around a set of proven, “nutrition-specific” interventions to address stunting. They estimated that scaling up 10 nutrition interventions to 90 percent coverage would reduce stunting by about 20 percent. While this finding gave the community renewed focus, it also highlighted how much we still do not know about the complex determinants of stunting. What about the remaining 80 percent?

One of the aims of PATH’s Nutrition Innovation team is to help answer that question. During my six months at PATH, I worked on two projects: an ongoing systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of tobacco use during pregnancy and its association with stunting, and drafting a corresponding policy brief on “nutrition-sensitive” risk factors that may be contributing to stunting—those that were not highlighted in The Lancet 2013 Series.

I never thought that my research would be focused on tobacco use. At first, I was skeptical about researching this topic. I have no background or experience working on tobacco, and I was unsure about how relevant tobacco would be to stunting. But through our meta-analysis, my eyes have been opened to the idea that much more cross-sectoral research still needs to be done to explore the intersection and overlap between different health and development issues and nutrition outcomes.

“Meet the Future” panelists discuss innovation and diversity at the PATH 40th anniversary celebration in Seattle, WA (courtesy of the author)

Working on the Nutrition Innovation team at PATH has taught me an invaluable lesson about the interdisciplinary nature of global health and nutrition. Too often, people try to do great work in silos. Echoing this message at PATH’s 40th anniversary celebration in May, a diverse panel of innovators and young leaders discussed the importance of making connections across sectors to solve the world’s problems. By working collaboratively and moving away from the “business as usual” mindset, we can achieve greater impact. Thinking about stunting outside of the “nutrition-specific” lens enables us to better understand the complex and broad, sweeping determinants of the problem. Our research on tobacco is just one example of this.

We are currently in the process of drafting our policy brief with the aim of broadening the conversation about stunting to address issues beyond the nutrition interventions highlighted in The Lancet. We are exploring sound evidence on additional determinants of stunting, such as household air pollution, tobacco use, hygiene and sanitation, education, and delaying the first birth and birth spacing.

Part of our message is to advocate for more interdisciplinary approaches among people working in different sectors—to encourage researchers, program implementers and policymakers to expand their approach to include cross-sector indicators in their research and programs. Many health and development studies and programs do not include stunting as an outcome of interest, even when evidence indicates that there may well be an effect. We hope our work can help guide the conversation out of the box and lead to new, creative, and interdisciplinary approaches to end undernutrition around the world.

I am grateful for this fellowship and exposure to the great work of the Nutrition Innovation team at PATH. My time here has greatly expanded and shaped my perceptions and approach to thinking about global nutrition.

(One of Handicap International’s team members providing assistance and support to victims of the 2015 Nepal earthquake more than six months after the disaster)

Ms. Houda El Joundi recently completed a Hilton Prize Coalition Fellowship through Handicap International, an NGO supporting people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations living in conflict, disaster zones and in situations of exclusion and extreme poverty. Houda graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in May 2016 from Kenyon College, where she studied Economics and Chinese. In this blog post, she writes about Handicap International’s programs as well as the campaigns she worked on throughout her Fellowship.

Two years ago, I came across Handicap International(HI)’sprojects in Morocco, which is my home country. It was one of my first encounters with any substantial efforts being deployed to improve accessibility and rehabilitation services for people with disabilities in the country, and I learned about HI’s work advocating for disability rights as well as political, social, and economic inclusion.

One in four households in Morocco is affected by disability. Despite governmental efforts, people with disabilities are still heavily excluded from development. This is an infringement of their human rights and an equal hindrance to Morocco’s development, at a time when the country is undergoing a democratic and social transition requiring all factions of society to join forces and work together. Unfortunately, Morocco is only one of many developing countries where people with disabilities lack their basic rights of active participation and access to services. HI works in Morocco as well as in over sixty countries to improve the lives and livelihoods of people with disabilities, putting disability at the forefront of the development agenda.

Both my passion for HI’s work in promoting the rights of people with disabilities and my commitment to international development found solid ground this summer when I was named a Hilton Prize Coalition Fellow with Handicap International US. I was provided with an insight into the behind-the-scenes work of international development. It was fascinating to see how the values and mission of the organization translated into the everyday work and interactions of the HI-US team.

Throughout my fellowship, I learned a great deal about the history and comprehensiveness of HI’s work. HI was initially founded to fill the gap in humanitarian action and ensure that help was provided to the most vulnerable groups, including but not limited to people in situations of extreme poverty and people facing discrimination and exclusion. Through its projects, the organization aims to create sustainability by emphasizing the importance of local civil society organizations (CSOs) and disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) in the development process, and prioritizing capacity-building efforts. As such, HI ensures that local organizations and local staff in the countries in which it operates are partners and active participants in its inclusion, rehabilitation, prevention, and advocacy projects.

I was fortunate to assist with the launch of the Stop Bombing Civilians campaign; a powerful campaign the organization is carrying out as part of its advocacy efforts to ban the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. This campaign complements HI’s 30 years of advocacy work against anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions, which are weapons that are killing, maiming and displacing people daily in different parts of the world. These efforts have led to the creation of the Ottowa Mine Ban Treaty of 1997 and the Convention of Cluster Munitions (the Oslo Treaty) in 2008. The Stop Bombing Civilians campaign hopes to enforce international humanitarian law (IHL) and put an end to the unacceptable targeting of civilians in armed conflicts.

(HI’s annual Pyramid of Shoes campaign encourages communities to mobilize against landmines and cluster bombs – each shoe represents a life or limb lost to a landmine or cluster bomb)

My Fellowship has given me an appreciation for and a familiarity with the magnitude and range of HI’s development and emergency work. It has given me the opportunity to get a closer look at the various programs the organization is involved with, from exclusion to landmines, and the innovative and efficient ways in which it is addressing these issues. Handicap International is truly filling a gap in global humanitarian action.

RT @CovenantHouse has almost finished building their new site for unaccompanied children facing homelessness in Mexico City. Eight years in the making, the campus will provide safe shelter & many programs for children every year. @CasaAlianza